Baby ripped from womb of murdered Chicago woman has died

News Staff

May 20, 2019 3:05 PMJune 14, 2019 8:41 AM

The baby of a murdered Chicago woman whose child was cut from her womb has died, a family spokesperson announced Friday morning.

Marlen Ochoa-Lopez, 19, was strangled to death in April after arranging to get baby clothes from a woman she met on Facebook, police said. Her child, Yovanny Jadiel Lopez, survived when he was forcibly removed from his mother’s womb, but was in grave condition. On Friday, the family spokesperson announced that he had died from severe brain injury.

“It is with great sadness that we inform you of the passing of baby Yovanny Jadiel Lopez,” the announcement said. “Please keep his family in your thoughts & prayers as they go through this difficult time.”

The funeral will be private and the family asked for respect during this difficult time.

In May, Clarisa Figueroa, 46, and her daughter Desiree, 24, were both charged with first-degree murder and aggravated battery in Ochoa-Lopez’s death.

Ochoa-Lopez went missing on April 23. That same day, Figueroa allegedly called paramedics saying she had given birth and needed help with complications. Later, DNA tests proved that the child she claimed to be hers was Ochoa-Lopez’s.

Ochoa-Lopez’s body was found in a trash can with the cord in a “hidden area” at the Figueroa’s home, authorities said. The two suspects allegedly used a butcher knife to cut the baby out of Ochoa-Lopez.

Ochoa-Lopez’s family had previously said they were prepared for the possibility that the baby might die, considering his critical condition, but they hoped for the best.

“We plead to God that he gives us our child because that is a blessing that my wife left for us,” Yiovanni Lopez, the baby’s father, told reporters last Wednesday, through a Spanish interpreter.

Clarissa’s boyfriend, Piotr Bobak, 40, was also charged with concealing the murder.